Cutler: Offense remains work in progress

September 05, 2013|By Rich Campbell, Tribune reporter

Chicago Bears quarterback Jay Cutler watches from the sideline during a preseason game vs. San Diego last month. (Chris Sweda / Chicago Tribune)

The Chicago Bears' offense under new coach Marc Trestman is far from a finished product less than 72 hours before the start of their season opener against the Bengals. Quarterback Jay Cutler and his teammates are continuing an evolution that figures to last well into the season.

“It’s hard, especially at this point whenever it’s game week and we still are kind of learning things,” Cutler said Thursday. “We’re learning things on the move, and we’ve got to prepare for a game. But it’s football.”

Cutler, however, does believe he’s prepared to succeed in the first game.

“I’m as comfortable as I could be up to this point,” he said. “We’re still learning things and still getting better each and every day. I don’t think we’ll be where we want to be before this game.”

That presents a great challenge, especially given the Bengals’ explosive defensive line. Trestman’s passing game relies on tempo, rhythm and getting the ball out quickly, which will be essential to slowing down the Bengals’ pass rush.

“You don’t really want to give 97 (defensive tackle Geno Atkins) or any of those other guys a lot of time to work into their second moves because they get to the quarterback,” Cutler said. “They get to the quarterback a lot. They show you a lot of different fronts, which makes it even more difficult trying to figure out who’s who. We’ve got to be on it with our protection game, and then on the outside, guys got to get open quickly.”